Snowmass and Aspen Mountain are scheduled to open on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 22.  Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk are scheduled to open Saturday, December 8.

There are exciting changes in store for the 2007-2008 winter season at Aspen/Snowmass with $25.5 million in improvements.  Snowmass will be the focal point with the first phase of the new base village coming online, including The Treehouse Kids’ Adventure Center, a rental/retail shop and ticket offices. Elk Camp Meadows learning area will also open at Snowmass this season.

Aspen/Snowmass will once again host the best women ski racers in the world Dec. 7-9, during the 2007 Aspen Winternational FIS Women’s World Cup. This year’s event will feature both speed and technical races, including the first women’s downhill in Aspen in nearly 20 years, along with super G and slalom races. The races will be the focal point of a weekend packed with additional events including a Bud Light Hi-Fi Concert, gondola plaza festivals, fireworks and parties.

This winter ski or ride Aspen/Snowmass for less than $40 per day with the Aspen/Snowmass Classic Pass.  Click here for more details.  http://www.aspensnowmass.com/classicpass/. Classic Passes are on sale this weekend, October 27-28, at Colorado Ski & Golf in Arvada and at Gene Taylor Sports in Grand Junction.

Source: Aspen Skiing Company

Snowmass and Aspen Mountain are scheduled to open on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 22.  Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk are scheduled to open Saturday, December 8.

There are exciting changes in store for the 2007-2008 winter season at Aspen/Snowmass with $25.5 million in improvements.  Snowmass will be the focal point with the first phase of the new base village coming online, including The Treehouse Kids’ Adventure Center, a rental/retail shop and ticket offices. Elk Camp Meadows learning area will also open at Snowmass this season.

Aspen/Snowmass will once again host the best women ski racers in the world Dec. 7-9, during the 2007 Aspen Winternational FIS Women’s World Cup. This year’s event will feature both speed and technical races, including the first women’s downhill in Aspen in nearly 20 years, along with super G and slalom races. The races will be the focal point of a weekend packed with additional events including a Bud Light Hi-Fi Concert, gondola plaza festivals, fireworks and parties.

This winter ski or ride Aspen/Snowmass for less than $40 per day with the Aspen/Snowmass Classic Pass.  Click here for more details.  http://www.aspensnowmass.com/classicpass/

Source: Aspen Skiing Company

The field is limited to 125 adult racers and 25 juniors. Register at the Aspen Highlands Guest Services booth from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily at the base of the mountain. Day-of-race registration at the Guest Services booth closes promptly at 9 a.m. (but late registration continues at the Ski Patrol PHQ until the start). Registration costs $30 and includes an “Inferno 7” T-shirt (with artwork by Highlands patroller Steve “Remo” Williams), raffle entry and prize giveaways at the awards party. Juniors will need a parent/guardians’ signature to register.

The Aspen Highlands Ski Patrol, the Inferno’s sanctioning body, is also seeking volunteers to help stage the race. Please call 544-3062 for more information about volunteer opportunities.

Racers should be at the top of Loge Peak chairlift by 9:45 a.m. on race day for a pre-race briefing. Racer lift tickets are available for $42, and racers will be provided with a secure area to store gear (at the base if the Deep Temerity lift) during the race.

The race features mass starts according to division. The route remains much the same: Start at to top of the Deep Temerity chairlift; descend Broadway past the Patrol Monument to the base of Mousetrap; ascend Mousetrap; pick up skis/boards on the way past the PHQ; climb the ridge to the peak; descend Highland Bowl through the 16 “control gates” and the run-out to the finish line at the bottom of the Deep Temerity lift. All told, the route includes 840 vertical-feet of climbing and 2,512 feet of down-hilling.

Racers are strongly encouraged to wear helmets, and racers must have leashes or brakes for skis (tele or alpine) or snowboards. Only one (1) pair of boots may be used by each racer, and racers must keep skis/boards in line with their bodies during the hike - not across their bodies. Also, gear must not flail more than one-and-a-half feet outside of racers’ bodies; violators will be DQ’d.

As usual, the post-race awards party is slated for 4:20 p.m. at the base of Highlands.

Call the “Inferno Hotline” at 970-544-3048 for the latest information on the race.

The descent route will be marked with bamboo poles beginning Thursday so that racers might familiarize themselves with the actual line. Racers can also ride the lift up early, beginning at 8 a.m. on race day, to inspect the course.

Source: Aspen Skiing Company

Over 300 male and female athletes from five countries will compete in eight disciplines within skiing and snowboarding. Aspen/Snowmass Open athletes include Matthew Phillipi, Brent Abrams, John Spriggs and Colby West to compete in ski disciplines while Luke Wynen, Aidan Payson, Sammy Leubke and Teddy and Jordie Karlinski will compete in snowboarding events. 

Athlete registration opened last month and filled quickly. Slots are still available in the snowboard categories, while ski is closed.  (Contact Jenny Marshall at jmarshall@aspensnowmass.com for more registration information.)

“This event received incredible hype and response in its inaugural year in 2006 and has set a standard for open competitions,” said John Rigney, Managing Director Event Marketing, Aspen Skiing Company. “There is no other event out there that combines snowboarding and skiing in an open registration format on this scale and to be able to offer these great athletes the opportunity to compete on the X course is really exciting for us.”

Know the Code

The National Ski Areas Association established “Your Responsibility Code” in 1966 as a code of ethics for all skiers on the mountain. Today, the code reflects not only skier safety, but snowboarder and lift safety as well.

Ultimately, safe skiing and snowboarding on the mountain is each person’s responsibility. Following “Your Responsibility Code” will help all skiers and snowboarders have a safer mountain experience.

Your Responsibility Code

• Safety on the slopes is everyone’s responsibility. Ski safely - not only for yourself, but for others as well.
• Always stay in control and be able to stop or avoid objects.
• People ahead of you have the right of way. It is your responsibility to avoid them.
• Do not stop where you obstruct the trail or are not visible from above.
• Whenever starting downhill or merging into a trail, yield to others.
• Always use devices to help prevent runaway equipment.
• Observe all posted signs and warnings.
• Keep off closed trails and out of closed areas.
• Prior to using any lift, you must know how to load, ride, and unload safely.

“The new Elk Camp Gondola offers ease about the mountain to skiers and riders as it takes them directly to the Elk Camp side of the mountain,” said Steve Sewell, Mountain Manager, Snowmass. “And when our ski school hub, Elk Camp Meadows, opens at the top of the gondola next season, it will be a beginner’s paradise.”

The Elk Camp Gondola offers quick access to the Elk Camp terrain (skier’s right side of Snowmass) at 9,970 feet.  The new cabins are manufactured by Poma and painted in “Verkehrsschwarz” - Black with shiny silver aspen leaf logos, similar to the new Silver Queen Gondola cabins on Aspen Mountain. 

A mid-station at the top of Assay Hill provides skiers with an additional uploading area. Guests can enjoy spectacular views of the surrounding Elk Mountain Range, delicious food from the Café Suzanne and direct access to the Elk Camp lift.

The Elk Camp Gondola is run completely on renewable energy credits, as is the new Silver Queen Gondola on Aspen Mountain and the rest of Aspen Skiing Company’s lifts and buildings. In June of 2006, Aspen Skiing Company began purchasing renewable energy certificates from wind farms to offset 100 percent of the company’s electricity use.

As well as on-mountain improvements, development is under way on the new Snowmass base village.  Guests will soon be able to enjoy a state-of-the-art children’s center, new shops, bars, restaurants, conference space, a Westin hotel, The Little Nell at Snowmass and condominiums - all connected to the upper village by a two-minute gondola ride via the Sky Cab gondola. Next season Elk Camp Meadows will feature a new lift and terrain, allowing beginners to experience an entirely new side of the mountain for the first time.

SkiGreen is a program of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization with the mission of supporting the development of clean, sustainable and domestic renewable energy across North America. Each $20 SkiGreen Tag represents one Megawatt-hour of renewable power generation and offsets approximately 1,400 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, primarily measured as carbon dioxide. Each $2 SkiGreen Tag represents 100 kilowatt-hours of renewable generation and is the equivalent of approximately 150 miles driven. Participants in the program will receive acknowledgement of what their contribution represents along with SkiGreen stickers for his or her helmet or gear, and a coupon for Aspen/Snowmass services. 

“Aspen/Snowmass is in the unique position to help educate and influence the winter sports community at large,” said Patrick Nye, director of sales at Bonneville Environmental Foundation. “Through programs such as SkiGreen and SaveSnow, Aspen will create a larger positive impact beyond greening their own operations.”

In addition, BEF has committed to reinvest 20 percent of all consumer sales from Green Tags sold in Aspen into the community for new local renewable energy projects through a partnership with The City of Aspen’s Canary Initiative. To learn more about this partnership visit http://www.canaryinitiative.com.

Aspen/Snowmass’ participation is SkiGreen is added to the long list of activities the company has engaged in to stop global warming. ASC’s efforts include a commitment to purchase renewable energy credits and offset 100 percent of their electricity use. The company built one of the first 11 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings in the world, developed the ski industry’s first climate policy and is the only resort to become a member of the Chicago Climate Exchange. The company also developed the industry’s two largest on-site renewable energy systems. Aspen Skiing Company has received over 30 awards recognizing its environmental commitment, and became the only company in the snow sports industry to submit an Amicus Brief to the Supreme Court arguing that the EPA should regulate carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act. More information about Aspen Skiing Company’s global warming initiatives can be found at the company’s website for climate-change at www.SaveSnow.com .